Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by mindcrime 19 days ago
> "Not X, not y, not z, A!"

You know, humans do that sometimes as well. Not GenAI's, not Agents, not automated systems, but actual humans!

4 comments

Looking at the AI-generated image, the vibecoded visual design, and the constant use of these phrases in the text, this isn't one of the exceptions to the rule.
Sometimes! But when the cost of generating pages upon pages of bombastic text is near-zero, I have to apply quick heuristics to decide which text by people I don't personally know is worth my time to read in detail, and this article doesn't pass.
100% agree with this. The irony of this article critical of AI development culture is that the author used AI to write it.

The 'not a, not b, but c' writing style used to be _effective_. If someone wrote that way I paid attention because it was good writing. But because it is everywhere now, it has ceased to be effective, and it has the opposite effect. My mental heuristic sees this and zones out now.

Fair enough. I just wouldn't lean on one single "tell" like that to judge an entire article, at least not as a general rule. But that's just me.
Humans do it sometimes, for effect. Not all the time, giving every phrase the same impact.
"Not snow, not swans, but the tent of Hasan Aga" - cca 1640.